James M. Barrie on Life
“Life is a long lesson in humility.” James M. Barrie
George F. Will on Pessimism
“The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.” George F. Will US editor, commentator, & columnist (1941 – )
Robert Byrne on Life
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Robert Byrne
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas on the Future
“The future lies in the strength with which people can set their powers of creation against their impulses for destruction. Perhaps this is the unending frontier.” Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
Lynda Barry on Love
“Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke.” Lynda Barry
Orson Welles on Art and Time
“I passionately hate the idea of being with it, I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.” Orson Welles US actor & director (1915 – 1985)
Arthur Koestler on Discovery
“The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.” Arthur Koestler British (Hungarian-born) author (1905 – 1983)
Michel de Montaigne on Silliness
“No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.” Michel de Montaigne French essayist (1533 – 1592)
Peter Kreeft on Hell
“The national anthem of Hell is ‘I did it my way’.” Peter Kreeft
C. S. Lewis on Time
“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” C. S. Lewis
Francis Bacon on Change
“Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly.” Francis Bacon
Mark Twain on Work
“Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.” Mark Twain
Robertson Davies on Society
“There is no nonsense so gross that society will not, at some time, make a doctrine of it and defend it with every weapon of communal stupidity.” Robertson Davies
Groucho Marx on TV and Books
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” Groucho Marx US comedian with Marx Brothers (1890 – 1977)
Arthur C. Clarke on Science Fiction
“Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
W. L. George on War
“Wars teach us not to love our enemies, but to hate our allies.” W. L. George
Will Rogers on Ignorance
“You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” Will Rogers, New York Times Aug. 31 1924 US humorist & showman (1879 – 1935)
Lucius Annaeus Seneca on Death
“The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Abraham Lincoln on Character
“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” Abraham Lincoln
Euripides on Foolishness
“Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.” Euripides Greek tragic dramatist (484 BC – 406 BC)
Anne Frank on Happiness
“Whoever is happy will make others happy too.” Anne Frank
William Hazlitt on Humanity
“Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.” William Hazlitt English essayist (1778 – 1830)
Saint Augustine on Hope
“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” Saint Augustine
Hector Berlioz on Ideas
“Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down.” Hector Berlioz French composer (1803 – 1869)
John Kenneth Galbraith on Politics
“Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.” John Kenneth Galbraith US (Canadian-born) administrator & economist (1908 – 2006)
Bo Jackson on Success
“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” Bo Jackson
Thomas Carlyle on Silence
“Silence is more eloquent than words.” Thomas Carlyle
Marlon Brando on Television
“If there’s anything unsettling to the stomach, it’s watching actors on television talk about their personal lives.” Marlon Brando US movie actor (1924 – 2004)
James M. Barrie on Work
“Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” James M. Barrie Scottish dramatist & novelist (1860 – 1937)
James Thurber on Questions
“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” James Thurber US author, cartoonist, humorist, & satirist (1894 – 1961)
Albert Einstein on Technology & Humanity
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” Albert Einstein
Jim Clark on the Internet
“The Internet is not just one thing, it’s a collection of things – of numerous communications networks that all speak the same digital language.” Jim Clark
Honoré de Balzac on Marriage
“A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.” Honoré de Balzac
Albert Einstein on Science
“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
George Bernard Shaw on Wisdom
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” George Bernard Shaw, “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” (1893) act II Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Martin Luther King, Jr. on Equality
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Marcus Tullius Cicero on Faith
“A man of courage is also full of faith.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
De La Lastra’s Law
“After the last of 16 mounting screws has been removed from an access cover, it will be discovered that the wrong access cover has been removed.” De La Lastra’s Law
Henry Fielding on Criticism
“Now, in reality, the world have paid too great a compliment to critics, and have imagined them to be men of much greater profundity than they really are.” Henry Fielding English dramatist & novelist (1707 – 1754)
Edward R. Murrow on TV
“When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.” Edward R. Murrow US broadcast journalist & newscaster (1908 – 1965)
Dale Carnegie on Success
“Flaming enthusiasm, backed by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes success.” Dale Carnegie
Richard Brinsley Sheridan on Imagination
“He is indebted to his memory for his jests and to his imagination for his facts.” Richard Brinsley Sheridan Irish dramatist & politician (1751 – 1816)
Mark Twain on Death
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Mark Twain
Thomas E. Lawrence on Dreams
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.” Thomas E. Lawrence
Sun Tzu on Fear
“Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy” Sun Tzu Chinese general & military strategist (~400 BC)
Albert Einstein on Love
“Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.” Albert Einstein
Isaac Asimov on Knowledge
“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” Isaac Asimov US science fiction novelist & scholar (1920 – 1992)
Kate Reid on Acting
“Acting is not being emotional, but being able to express emotion.” Kate Reid
Elbert Hubbard on Journalism
“Editor: a person employed by a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed.” Elbert Hubbard US author (1856 – 1915)
Carl Gustav Jung on Change
“There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.” Carl Gustav Jung